Business | Economy
Malls are true destinations of choice and lifestyle
A recent trip to a mall on a Friday afternoon was a useful place for trying to start to research a topic of conversation that I had recently been having with a colleague, namely at what point our malls stop simply being malls and start becoming places to be.
- By Neil Tunbridge, Special to Gulf news
- Published: 23:12 August 25, 2008
A recent trip to a mall on a Friday afternoon was a useful place for trying to start to research a topic of conversation that I had recently been having with a colleague, namely at what point our malls stop simply being malls and start becoming places to be.
In normal circumstances I would avoid Friday afternoons at the mall, however in this case I thought it was the best place to start, when the mall was at its worst, or best depending on your taste.
It will come as no surprise to read that malls have long been the destination of choice for the younger generations to congregate, meet and generally annoy mall and security managers. However in years gone by, a lack of real spending power in this age group category has meant that they weren't particularly welcomed by the mall owners and store operators.
However with the changing nature of the retail offering found in malls now, there has been a step-change in the attitude towards the malls' shopper demographic. Where once the malls were mostly filled with line-retail stores catering to the higher or older age category shoppers (i.e. those with the spending power), now malls offer a wide array of stores, kiosks, vending machines and cinemas and the increasingly ubiquitous entertainment and leisure options. The result is that the malls are now congregated with a multi-dynamic shopper audience, where younger children and kids are encouraged to visit with the same sound principles as the older groups.
Job description
So what does this mean in terms of how we view the malls we visit today? If malls were once the domain of the older generations, who saw them as a perfunctory shopping destination and woe betide those that didn't (the kids), then now the truth could not be more opposite. But this change in attitude has also brought with it a change in job description for the mall. No longer are they simply a place to go in order to stock up on the groceries, they are now true destinations of choice and lifestyle. Where the availability of brands and stores is equally as important as the perceived image of the mall and what else can be done there, such as swim, ski or skate.
Using the switch in attitude towards the younger age groups as a case in point, children are now actively encouraged to visit and with increasing regularity, where store sleepovers for book launches and VIP queues for the latest fashion trends by their favourite singer/dancer etc are now progressively becoming the norm.
Real decision makers
This change is prevalent of the fact that retailers are quick to spot that children are the really decision makers when it comes to shopping and instead of attracting only the adults to the mall, the sensible option is to continue to lure the children and adults side by side. Consequently malls are now more of an indoor entertainment destination, where family interaction and attracting the widest possible audience is the key. Shopping is almost a secondary aspect or result of visiting the mall, not necessarily the primary motive.
So what really has changed in the way we use the mall? Well in a way everything and nothing. Malls are still malls; they're still full of shops and still full of children and adults. Now though the children and adults are increasingly together, more than they are apart. However the way we now view the malls has changed inexorably. Gone are the days of 'popping out to the mall' for the basics; they have been replaced by a visit to a lifestyle destination, one that involves an active decision to visit because it offers consumers a myriad of choices with what to with our time and money.
- The writer is Head of GRMC Retail Services, Dubai.
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